Latest News

GB Railfreight runs first commercial service to iPort Rail

On Tuesday 18th September, GB Railfreight Class 66 locomotive no. 66752, ‘The Hoosier State’ had the privilege of being the first freight train to arrive at the newly-opened iPort Rail inland port in Rossington, Doncaster.

The fully loaded service began its journey on Tuesday morning, departing from Solent Stevedores at 05:07, before arriving at iPort Rail at 14.33 on Tuesday afternoon, where its intermodal cargo was unloaded. New containers were loaded on, and the train departed at 18:04 back to Southampton, a service that will now run five days a week.

Record year underway for Solent Stevedores as contract extended with MSC Cruises until 2019

It’s been a busy start to the year for the Cruise Team at Solent Stevedores. Gearing up for a record 450 cruise calls in 2018, we are delighted to announce that we have been confirmed to supply in-port stevedoring and turnaround services to MSC Cruises until 2019.

3yr deal with Saga Cruises ends record year for Solent Stevedores’ Cruise division

Solent Stevedores has recently signed a 3-year agreement with luxury cruise operator, Saga Cruises to provide full in-port stevedoring and turnaround services to Saga Cruise vessels calling at the Port of Southampton, until 2020.

The services provided will include mooring, baggage handling, and mobility assistance to guests, alongside loading stores and provisions to the vessels.

Solent Stevedores is very pleased to have been selected to provide baggage and stores handling services to all vessels operated out of Southampton in 2017 and 2018 by Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd., the parent company of Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises.

Thomson Cruises has today unveiled its summer 2018 programme which sees TUI Discovery based out of the UK for the first time, as well as the addition of 15 new ports of call, including Monaco, Ancona and Skiathos Town, and 12 brand new itineraries.

In September 2018 and in a first for Thomson Cruises, TUI Discovery moves to Southampton where it will finish its Summer sailing four itineraries...

Despite losing 15 acres of space to enable the expansion of the container terminal, the Southampton Bulk Terminal, operated by Solent Stevedores, has this week exceeded the magical million tonnes of cargo handled across berths 107-109 and the King George Vth Dock in the port’s Western Docks.

In recent years the annual tonnage handled through the Southampton Bulk Terminal has been around the 850,000 mark.

However, due to the demand from bulk ship operators, and the productivity of the workforce, the magical 1 million tonne mark has been reached with 10 weeks remaining in 2016.

Solent Stevedores has purchased and taken delivery of a new fleet of 16 counter balance fork trucks from Linde MH, and their continued support in this operation was a major factor in awarding them the contract.

The trucks will help change the way we operate and improve productivity; the new machines are a more efficient design and fitted with batteries that last longer than our current machines - breakdowns will also be reduced.

The purchase of the new truck fleet is indicative of Solent Stevedores continued commitment to the Canary Islands fresh produce cargo coming through the Port of Southampton.

September 2016

Solent Stevedores opens new PFA terminal at the Port of Immingham

The first ship to call at Solent Stevedores new PFA (pulverised fuel ash) terminal discharged her cargo on 23rd September 2016.

MV Ireland, an LNG-powered cement carrier, delivered over 2,200-tonnes of PFA into the new terminal. The ship is equipped with a fully automated pneumatic loading and unloading system which is based on the fluidisation of cementitious products through the use of compressed air.

Solent Stevedores has renewed its agreement with Fred Olsen Cruise Lines to provide cruise stevedoring services in the Port of Southampton.

The new 3 year deal will see Solent Stevedores provide specialist turnaround services to all Fred Olsen vessel calls to Southampton until 2020. The contract underlines Solent Stevedores' position as a market leader in the cruise stevedoring industry, handling over 70% of all cruise calls to Southampton in 2016.

"We are delighted to renew our agreement with Fred Olsen Cruise Lines. Over the last 3 years our team has worked very hard to provide Fred Olsen guests with the highest level of customer service. Fred Olsen has an excellent product and we are excited to be part of their success in Southampton."

Tom Dynes
Operations Manager - Solent Stevedores

"Solent Stevedores has been providing our turnaround stevedoring services in Southampton since 2013. They have proven themselves to be a trusted supplier and we look forward to continuing to work with them to deliver in-port services to our guests in Southampton."

Angela Arnold
Port Operations Manager - Fred Olsen Cruise Lines

August 2016

£8.3m boost for Fresh Produce Terminal

Since commencing operations in the Port of Southampton in 2000, Solent Stevedores has gradually increased its range of activity, working closely with port owners ABP to finance significant improvements to port infrastructure.
A recent example of this has been an £8.3m capital investment to upgrade crane and terminal facilities at the 104 berth Fresh Produce Terminal.

The investment will provide two new high capacity harbour mobile cranes plus upgraded Terminal facilities which include expansion of the temperature range available for the storage of fresh produce.
The upgraded Fresh Produce Terminal project will increase the number of high capacity harbour mobile cranes operated by Solent Stevedores within the Port of Southampton to eight, which will enable the company to provide an extended service to a number of trades including fresh produce, project cargoes, containers and bulk cargo operations.

((News item courtesy of ABP)

July 2016

New staff at Head Office

Jodie Parker-Hall is one of our new members of staff. She came to us on work experience from the National Star College and following her fantastic work secured a job at Solent Stevedores Head Office on a Monday and Thursday morning.

Fi and Clare recently attended Jodie's graduation where she received awards for her Art Course and a Personal Development award. Jodie has also been offered an Internship next year at the National Star College.

June 2016

Solent Stevedores 100k telestacker saves time and improves safety at Silvertown, London

The telestacker has assisted our team to maximize stockpiling opportunities for Tate & Lyle at their facility on the River Thames in London.

The containers - destined for Sweden at extremely short notice, were fitted with tarpaulin covers that are usually required to be removed by hand using a cherry picker and ladders. By using the telestacker, the tarpaulins were not required to be removed, estimated to save Solent Stevedores at least an hour and a half on loading time.

Using the telestacker not only saves time but reduces the risks associated with personnel having to climb ladders and manually remove tarpaulins. From start to finish, both containers were fully loaded with 25mt of Raw Sugar in less than an hour.

April 2016

Solent Stevedores Jersey takes delivery of 18ton Linde forklift

Solent Stevedores Jersey Ltd has recently purchased and taken delivery of an 18ton counter balanced forklift from Linde, to build in resilience and complement the existing fleet of heavy forklifts for the LO/LO operations.

The purchase of this new forklift shows our continued commitment to provide an excellent service to the LO/LO operators and Ports of Jersey.

November 2015

Project Cargo - feedback

"Solent Stevedores has the expertise and equipment to handle this type of cargo and, as usual, the job was undertaken in a timely and professional way. Well done to all concerned!"

Solent Stevedores awarded new ABP contract at the Port of Immingham

Solent Stevedores has been awarded a 3-year contract to provide dry bulk stevedoring services to Associated British Ports at its Port of Immingham.

From 6th July Solent Stevedores will commence the provision of stevedoring services to ABP at its in-dock berths at the Port of Immingham. This contract will involve Solent Stevedores providing stevedoring labour, management and mobile equipment to ABP to handle some 1.3 million tonnes each year of fertilizer, animal feed, coal, pet coke, gypsum, salt, scrap metal etc.

Stuart Cullen, Chairman and CEO of Solent Stevedores commented:

"This is an important new contract for Solent Stevedores. It enables us to further develop our relationship with Associated British Ports and gives a platform in the UK's largest port from where we can further grow our business.

We are an ambitious company that maintains great pride in the delivery of quality service to our clients as well as continually seeking to enhance employment opportunities for our workforce."

Robert retires after 50 years in Shipping!

Robert started working for Commodore and Condor Ferries Ltd in 1965 as a Part Time Office Junior, being made Permanent in 1966. 50 years later he completed his fabulous career as Office Manager for Solent Stevedores (Jersey) Ltd.

Seawork 2015

Seawork, Europe's largest commercial marine exhibition and conference, recently closed its doors after another very successful event.

The Port of Southampton has hosted the event since 1998, originally at the QE11 Cruise Terminal, and more recently at the Canary Isles Fruit Terminal in the Western Docks, which provided more covered space for exhibitors as well as a larger area for on water displays.

Openfield at the Port of Southampton

Southampton is a strategic port in the Openfield portfolio, perfectly placed to service the company's central stores and grain suppliers and providing access to global export markets, primarily the many near-continent maltsters and brewers served by Openfield.

In 2008 Openfield entered into an agreement with Solent Stevedores to redevelop one of the original Western Docks cargo sheds, built in the 1930's, as a TASSC approved grain store.

Curbridge Football Team wins the league!

The Curbridge football team is kindly sponsored by Solent Stevedores. They are a local team that primarily consists of a group of close school friends who saw this as a way of keeping fit, having a laugh and staying in touch.

This is only their second season together and after winning promotion in their first season they finished off as runners up in the cup final and won a league title where they had the best defence in the league and had the most clean sheets.

Nigel Graham retires after an incredible 47 years in the Port of Southampton

It's not every day at Solent Stevedores when we have to say goodbye to someone with nearly five decades of service, but that's what happened last week when Nigel Graham, Terminal Manager at Ocean Terminal, hung up his Hi-Vis jacket for the last time..

Nigel originally started work in the Port in 1967 when he left school. After gaining experience in a number of different roles he was promoted to the role of supervisor at 38/9 berth in 1978. Nigel supervised both Cruise and RoRo operations here, and has since continued to work servicing the cruise industry for a further impressive 37 years.

A Royal Welcome for Britannia

It's been a busy week for our Cruise Division at Solent Stevedores. P&O's latest addition and flagship to the fleet, MV Britannia, glided into Southampton Water last Friday after departing from the yard at Fincantieri, Monfalcone, Italy, where the £473 Million vessel was handed over to P&O days earlier.

Looking resplendent in the afternoon sunlight, Solent Stevedores was on hand to tie her up and start the final preparations for what has been an action packed week of events showcasing the new ship. At 330m long, towering 70m high, and capacity to carry 4324 passengers, she really is a sight to behold.

Canary Isles Federation Port Agent retires

Manuel Kadi has worked for the Canary Islands Federation in Southampton for 25 years. As he retires this year, Solent Stevedores received the letter below from Manuel (shown on the left in the photo welcoming Chancellor George Osbourne to the Fruit Terminal on his recent visit to the Port of Southampton)

Dear Perry and all at Solent Stevedores

After almost 25 years working for the Canary Islands Federation in Southampton, leaving will not be entirely easy but after taking the decision I am looking forward to my retirement.

It has been a privilege to have had the opportunity to work with so many people from different teams under different flags. I am very proud of what we have collectively achieved.

Without the support and dedication of all those involved in the Canaries trade in Southampton, it would not have been possible to overcome all the difficult challenges we encountered along the way.

I would like to express my sincere appreciation to everyone at Solent Stevedores for the incredible support that you have given me. I thank you and I wish you all good health and the very best for the future.

Kind regards,
Manuel Kadi

January 2015

Retirement of three longstanding staff from the Cruise division

On 30th January 2015 staff at our Southampton office gathered to say goodbye to 3 members of staff from our Cruise Division, who had between them achieved an incredible 138 years of service in the Port of Southampton.

Mick Patterson, Alan Randell, and Dave Wilson, all started working together in the Port of Southampton in 1969, meaning that each of them have achieved an outstanding 46 years of service in the Port. Over the years they have worked on a huge variety of different projects, and have seen a huge amount of change in the Port, which is a very different place today.

Mick, Alan and Dave all worked as General Duties or 'GD' operatives as part of our Cruise Division, a key role during Cruise Turnaround operations requiring a high degree of skill, knowledge, and experience. As a result, they were hugely valued members of the team, both for their depth of experience and also the ability to calmly solve practically any problem which they faced!

Solent Stevedores has made its first investment of Cat® wheel loaders from Finning, with the purchase of two 950Ks. After re-negotiating its contract with the Tate and Lyle sugar refinery, now owned by ASR Group, the port bulk handling specialists process sugar cane shipments from across the world, shifting raw sugar into the plant based on the Thames' edge in East London.

Solent Stevedores to the rescue!

In early August, Condor Ferries called upon Solent Stevedores to assist them with an operational crisis when the 'Commodore Clipper' ran aground in Guernsey. With this event occurring at the peak holiday time, the pressure was really on for Condor Ferries to maintain their summer schedule for both Passenger & Freight services. Solent Stevedores was asked to provide Stevedoring assistance both in Portsmouth and Guernsey and immediately mobilised teams to both venues to assist with the chartered vessel 'Toucan'.

Ian Jacobs CEO commented;

"It was vital that Solent Stevedores did all we could to aid a valued customer who was experiencing unplanned operational problems throughout the month of August. Our teams provided a first class level of service to Condor Ferries and we are all very grateful for their efforts. Thanks to their unwavering support, Condor Ferries were able to continue to offer a full service to their clients at an extremely busy period for their business and this action demonstrates the extra mile that our team are committed to deliver".

Solent Stevedores welcomes new appointments.

Hollywood calls for Solent Stevedores

Following the completion of a successful season handling Canary Isles tomatoes, Solent Stevedores staff at the Western Docks Fresh Produce Terminal were asked, at very short notice, to provide facilities for filming of the well known TV series '24: Live Another Day' starring Keifer Sutherland (as Jack Bauer), Chloe O'Brian (Mary Lynn Rajskub), Cheng Zhi (Tzi Ma) and Steven Fry as the British Prime Minister.

Solent Stevedores was recently asked to host a visit of the LSLC Young Marine Professionals to the Port of Southampton, along with the main sponsors BMT Surveys and the Institute of Maritime Law. The visit took place on Friday 5th July and the 47 visitors witnessed the Port of Southampton in full operation on a glorious summer`s day.

It was announced in November 2013 that Solent Stevedores secured the Canary Island Fruit Contract.

The Canary Island Produce trade has been running into Southampton for the past 22 years. The produce which includes tomatoes and cucumbers arrives from Tenerife and Las Palmas on vessels twice weekly between November and May.

Shipping & Marine Magazine: 'Solent Stevedores has achieved great success since last feature'

Ship to Shore Crane Stretcher Rescue London

On 21st May 2013 whilst berthing the Mv Genco Bay alongside the Raw Sugar Jetty at Tate and Lyle, London, the Pilot called a medical emergency and asked for shore side emergency response as the Captain of the ship was having a suspected heart attack.